1. How to Find the Answers to Financial Aid Questions
March 15, 2018
Mark Kantrowitz
Publisher
StudentAidPolicy.com

2. Want to Become Mr. or Ms. Know-It-All?

3. Start with the Primary Sources of Information
When in doubt, check the statutes and regulations
Higher Education Act of 1965 [20 U.S.C.]
Title IV [20 U.S.C. Chapter 28]
Reauthorization legislation every 5-10 years
Regulations at 34 CFR
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26 U.S.C.]
Regulations at 26 CFR
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
U.S. Bankruptcy Code [11 U.S.C. 523(a)(8)]
Also check the guidance published in the Federal Student Aid Handbook, Application and Verification Guide, and Dear Colleague Letters

4. How Do You Find Legislation and Regulations?
Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School
Government Printing Office (GPO)
FindLaw
codes.findlaw.com
Pending Legislation
Congress.gov
Code of Federal Regulations

5. Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP)
Visit ifap.ed.gov (no www prefix)
Federal Student Aid Handbook
Application and Verification Guide
Dear Colleague Letters
Electronic Announcements
Training
FSA Coach
Financial Aid Toolkit – financialaidtoolkit.ed.gov
Federal Student Aid Training Conference - fsaconferences.ed.gov
FAFSA Stuff
EFC Formula Guide (Worksheets and Tables)
Summary of Changes for the Application Processing System
FAFSA and SAR Materials
Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules

6. Sources of Student Aid Data (1/2)
College Affordability and Transparency Center
collegecost.ed.gov
collegescorecard.ed.gov
College InSight – college-insight.org
College Results Online – collegeresults.org
Common Data Set – commondataset.org
Federal Pell Grant End-of-Year Report
FSA Data Center – fsadatacenter.ed.gov
FAFSA Application Volume, Loan Portfolio, Loan and Grant Volume, Default Rates
Grapevine – education.illinoisstate.edu/grapevine
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
nces.ed.gov/ipeds, collegenavigator.gov
Also, lender 10-Q and 10-K filings, which can be obtained using EDGAR on the sec.gov web site.

7. Sources of Student Aid Data (2/2)
NASSGAP Annual Survey Reports -
NCES Data Lab – QuickStats, PowerStats, TrendStats
nces.ed.gov/datalab
National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS)
Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS)
Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B)
NCHEMS Information Center – higheredinfo.org
Payscale.com College ROI Report -
Project on Student Debt – projectonstudentdebt.org
SHEEO / State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) – sheeo.org/projects/shef
U.S. Census Bureau – census.gov
U.S. Department of Labor / Bureau of Labor Statistics – bls.gov

8. Many Pages of Information
Document
Pages
Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965
846 pages (up from 52 in 1965)
Regulations (34 CFR)
2,583 pages
Federal Student Aid Handbook
1,424 pages
Dear Colleague Letters
1,544 since 1994
Electronic Announcements
6,825 since 1994
Through end of 2017

9. Key Sections of Internal Revenue Code
26 USC §
Description
1(g)
Kiddie Tax
25A
American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits
72(t)(2)(E), (7)
Early IRA Distributions for Higher Education
108(f)
Student Loan Forgiveness, Cancellation and Repayment Assistance
117
Scholarships, Fellowships and Grants
127
Employer Paid Tuition Assistance
132
Business Deduction for Work-Related Education
135
Education Savings Bonds
221
Student Loan Interest Deduction
222
Tuition and Fees Deduction
529
College Savings Plans and Prepaid Tuition Plans
530
Coverdell Education Savings Accounts
2503(e)
Tuition Gift Tax Exclusion

10. IRS Publications IRS Publication 17 – Your Federal Income Tax
Table 1-1 Filing Requirements for Most Taxpayers
Table 1-2 Filing Requirements for Dependents
Filing Status, especially Head of Household Status
IRS Publication 970 – Tax Benefits for Education
IRS Statistics of Income

11. Other Publications (1/2)
Mark’s Student Aid Policy Analysis Papers
studentaidpolicy.com
Center on Education and the Workforce – cew.georgetown.edu
Chronicle of Higher Education – chronicle.com
Almanac Issue (Last Friday in August)
College Board – trends.collegeboard.org
Trends in College Pricing
Trends in Student Aid
Education Pays
College Savings Plan Network – collegesavings.org
Liberty Street Economics – Federal Reserve Bank of New York
libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/student-loans

12. Other Publications (2/2)
National Center for Education Statistics - nces.ed.gov
Digest of Education Statistics
Condition of Education
Projections of Education Statistics
National Council of Higher Education Resources – ncher.us
Common Manual (Student Loan Rules)
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
and stats.oecd.org
Sallie Mae – salliemae.com/research
How America Pays for College
How America Pays for Grad School
How America Saves for College
Majoring in Money
UCLA Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) – heri.ucla.edu
Freshman Survey
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) – gao.gov

13. Ask Another Expert / Financial Aid Forums
FINAID-L Mailing List
LinkedIn Groups
College Counselors: Admissions and Financial Aid
Financial Aid Professionals & Administrators
Student Loan Experts
Financial Aid Best Practices
Financial Aid Professionals
AskRegs (NASFAA Members Only) – nasfaa.org

14. Ask the Internet There is a lot of bogus information online
Accuracy may be questionable
Author may lack expertise
Information may be stale
Opinions stated as fact
Answers may lack credibility
Do you trust the information?
Resources
Google.com
Quora.com

15. The Seven Cs of High Quality Answers
Clear
Correct
Complete
Concise
Current
Comparable
Context-Sensitive
Always have two pairs of eyeballs reviewing any document before publication.
Clear - simple and easy to comprehend and understand
Correct - no errors of commission
Complete - no errors of omission, but still selective, focusing on the most important material
Concise - compact and to the point without excess verbiage as a distraction
Current - up‐to‐date and timely
Comparable - standardized, so that it is consistent
Context-Sensitive - relevant and salient, just‐in‐time

16. Thank You Follow Mark Kantrowitz on Twitter at @mkant
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